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Hairspray is a wonderful musical extravaganza with spectacular performances from a rising star and Hollywood's best known dancing man playing a woman. The film is the best musical to hit the screen since Grease. The film opens with teenager Tracy Turblad (Nikki Blonsky), a cheerfully heavy young girl, singing about 1962 Baltimore. Tracy and her friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes) are dedicated to The Corny Collins Show (Corny Collins played by James Marsden), a daily teenage dance marathon broadcast from a local TV station. When one of the dancers on the show drops out, Collins announces that open auditions will be held at the studio; but during school hours. Tracy's mother, Edna Turnblad (John Travolta, in a fat suit), won't let Tracy skip school only to be disappointed at the TV station audition. Tracy's father (Christopher Walken) as Wilbur Turnblad, owns a joke shop next door to their home. He encourages Tracy to go for it anyway, and follow her dreams. Penny accompanies Tracy to the studio, but because of her size, Tracy is turned away by Amber von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her mother the station manger, Velma von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer). After returning to school, she is sent to detention and learns the dance moves of the African American students there. One of the dancers on the show, Link (Zac Efron), passes by the room and notices Tracy dancing and encourages her to show herself off at the school dance. At the dance, Collins notices her talent and recruits her onto the show. Director Adam Shankman has finally found his calling in musicals. Shankman's previous filmography includes "The Pacifier," "A Walk to Remember," and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2." It is obvious how his directing has improved. It is surprising, since Shankman is a choreographer, that he hasn't churned out a musical before. A very well directed scene, is Tracy marching alongside the African Americans in a protest march against the TV studio after it cancels Negro Day on The Corny Collins Show. The images of the march and semi-transparent shots (thanks to editor Michael Tronick) of protestors' faces crossing over each other is beautiful, as are the over-the-shoulder shots of white onlookers on the sides of the street. The film offers a few surprises for the talents of some rising stars. Nikki Blonsky has never been in a film before, but her singing voice is amazing and her acting is very good, as well. I have seen Amanda Bynes from Nickelodeon and a few of her poor films in theaters, but she, too, has a very good singing voice. John Travolta steals the show as Tracy's mother. Barely changing his voice, he really comes off as a plus-sized woman. If you didn't know it was Travolta, you would ask yourself, "Who was the woman who played the mother? She was wonderful!" Travolta shares two great numbers one with Tracy and one with Wilbur. There are no weak or slow spots in Hairspray and it almost feels like an opera because the dialogue throughout the film is almost all sung rather than spoken. I can't think of a more entertaining movie to see this summer. Keep an eye out for director John Waters of the original non-musical version of the film; he's the flasher in a trench coat in the opening number. email this review to a friend
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